Entries in the 'nature' Category

Kabbalah And The Seven External Sciences

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe science of Kabbalah talks about the spiritual world and the forces operating in nature. These forces influence the matter of our world, creating various images in it, which results in an entire universe with everything filling it: still objects, vegetation, animals, and people. But we see all of this on the screen in the reverse part of our brain, and that is why it seems to us that this is in front of us. That is how we imagine reality.

That is why the science of Kabbalah is separated from this entire false picture, even though this picture is what helps us to attain the depth of creation, its intentions, and the Creator’s character. Yet in essence, the science of Kabbalah teaches us how to go from this external picture to the inner, true state where only two forces remain—the force of the Creator and the force of creation.

Of course, each of them divides into many more parts, particular forces and actions. But in essence it is talking only about forces: the will to receive, the will to enjoy, and what happens between them. This makes up all science.

If a science talks about the interaction of these two fundamental forces, then we have the science of Kabbalah. And if it talks about various results from them on different levels of matter—still, vegetative, animate, and human, then we have the sciences of this world.

Of course, these sciences are true because they give us knowledge about the external behavior through which the action of these two inner forces is expressed. But these sciences are very limited and we can only rely on them within the boundaries of our narrow world.

It turns out that the science of Kabbalah, which explains the two fundamental forces operating in nature, is the basis for all other sciences. And that does not include just the natural sciences that study nature and the external world, such as physics, chemistry, biology, and zoology, but also those belonging to man directly, such as music, dance, and art.

All of this is also part of the “seven fundamental external sciences” because it gives us knowledge about man’s abilities to perceive and sense his world.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/21/11, “Introduction to the book Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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The One Who Makes All The Difference

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In the “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 3, Baal HaSulam writes: “We distinguish four divisions in the Speaking species, arranged in gradations one atop the other. Those are the Masses, the Strong, the Wealthy, and the Sagacious. They are equal to the four degrees in the whole of reality, called “Still,” “Vegetative,” “Animate,” and “Speaking [human]…. It follows that the value of one person from the Speaking equalizes with the value of all the forces in the Vegetative and the Animate in the whole of reality at that time, and in all the past generations.”

Is it correct to assume that it is enough to have one person who, by having made his free choice, can open the path of further development to all other levels of nature, which cannot evolve further without it?

Answer: Certainly, by using his free will, one person can open the path to and ensure further development of all the still, vegetative, and animate levels of the human pyramid if all of them unify with each other and join this human degree. This is how Rashbi, the ARI, and Baal HaSulam opened it for us. One person can draw and lead all the others if he is at the “speaking” level of development, whereas they are at the still, vegetative, and animate ones.

We see this in practice. How would humanity evolve if not for certain outstanding individuals who open the door to a new world for the others?

But after such a person makes a breakthrough, reaching balance is up to all others who follow him. The former has done his job, as for instance, Baal HaSulam who revealed to us the entire method of the wisdom of Kabbalah; now it is up to us to actualize it. Until our work is complete, we won’t achieve equilibrium.

He merely explains to us that the problem lies in our imbalance with nature and it’s necessary to come to balance. Nature in its integral form is the Creator. It is with Him that we must harmonize ourselves, meaning to reach equivalence of form, oneness. This is what we must implement. It is necessary to engage the whole world into it, which will require a lot of work.

You may ask who is this person that makes all the difference and must use his free will? You are this person! It is every person who received spiritual awakening within and heard about the method of its realization from the outside.

Only the initial awakening occurs within, and because of it, a person hears a call to him or her from the outside. As a result, one comes to a place where it is indeed possible to realize one’s free will.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/17/2011, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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Open The Door To Tomorrow

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe world is reaching the state of wanting to become unified! It has to become unified as a result of the revelation of our inner desire due to nature’s demand. That is why our mind is starting to develop and we invent things that help us hear each other from a distance. That is how we invented the radio 150 years ago. It was just 150 years ago! Then the television appeared less than 100 years ago and people invented the cinema in order to create the illusion of motion. Then, around 25 years ago we reached the developed of the Internet connection.

All of this is a result of our desire which develops and demands greater integration and unity among us. This desire develops and we cannot stop it. It demands constant, unceasing, and universal interconnection, 24 hours a day, all over the world.

200 years ago a person would travel to somewhere and then he would return. During his absence of a month, for example, he did not know what was happening back home. But today this is impossible! In addition, books have disappeared. It takes too long for someone to write, print, and send it, and then for someone to read it…. Newspapers, the news, and everything will happen at the speed of light, at the speed of electronic connection. All of this is caused by the need for our correction!

Our nature is being revealed as a single, integral system, forcing us to be connected together. What happens in one place is immediately continued in another place and everything around begins to be set aflame. Who throws the match that ignites the whole world? No one! It’s happening because we are connected among each other in our inner desires.

If you compare the beginning of the year to its end, you will see the whole world totally interconnected. After all, we have to advance towards the general correction, to become as one man with one heart, to attain the state where we are in the world of Infinity, to reveal the single force of connection among us.

That is why we have to develop our Kabbalistic television and Internet resources in this way, so they would be as interactive and live as possible. Live broadcasts must take place around the clock and people should be calling each other from the whole world in all the languages so no one would feel any separation or difference between anyone. This has to happen live, rather than being recorded ahead of time and pulled out of the archive. That way the information won’t be perceived as “dead,” but everyone will feel that it is live! Your desire lives in the present and no longer perceives what you did yesterday. It has changed, but you are trying to sell it something that’s already dead.

People will feel this so acutely that they won’t be able to watch movies! You will feel that you are not impressed by a movie that used to excite you or make you cry. You will see that this does not affect you because it was filmed several months ago, so it’s no longer live! Everything has to happen at this very moment. I am giving you my sensations, while the external form that helps us be virtually connected with one another is just a means to attain the inner connection from heart to heart! If we could do things in this way, we would achieve success in disseminating the science of Kabbalah!

This is what the whole world is yearning for. It doesn’t even know that yet, but this is exactly what it desires. A person who understands this and knows how to tell the world the right things from his heart, how to tell the world about the things it aspires for, and to do so in a way that’s not only current today, but also tomorrow to some extent—that person opens the door to tomorrow!
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From the lesson on the weekly Torah portion on 2/10/11

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To Know Is To Bestow

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If a considerable part of humanity starts to unify as we do during Kabbalah conventions, then there should be less suffering in the world, correct?

Answer: Our actions are undoubtedly fruitful. It’s also true that today suffering manifests in the world in a lighter and more cushioned form than it would without our external and internal efforts. But how much lighter it is remains unclear to us because we don’t see the connection between our actions and all kinds of events.

Therefore, we can’t say by what percent the flood or fire rate went down thanks to our convention, but it most certainly did. The picture of our influence can be visible only if we develop the same collective sight as an integral environment (society), meaning if we reach at least the first spiritual level, the first degree of oneness.

Question cont.: So, in egoistic sensory organs we will never see how through our unity we prevented a terror act or a natural disaster, will we?

Answer: You can see it on the condition that you have the screen and your goal is to reveal the information not in order to satisfy your curiosity or gain internal peace, but to bestow to the others thereby. You need knowledge so you may go above it: First, you feel the necessity to go above reason, and afterward, in accordance with this, the upper (global, integral, spiritual) knowledge unfolds.

Question cont.: In that case, I shouldn’t blame myself that because I didn’t put forth sufficient effort to unite, something bad happened, should I? It doesn’t help my correction, does it?

Answer: It is a system of nature: If this information were necessary for you, it would be revealed to you since everything works according to one program and moves the world to the final correction.

At present, you cannot see it, but later on, you will reach a state when it will become possible. However, if such knowledge isn’t required in order to bestow, you won’t want it to be revealed to you. If it isn’t for bestowal, why do I need to see and know?!

Eventually, you will see the world from end to end; you will know everything! And you will say: “I don’t want any of this! I will take as much knowledge as I need for bestowal so that I can rise above it in bestowal.”
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/9/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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It Is Our Job

Dr. Michael LaitmanAll the problems in the world are caused by the fact that Israel, those who are yearning for the Creator, are not carrying out the task they have been entrusted with. That is what Kabbalists write. We are not bringing the method of correction to the world or educating them about it.

Essentially, the world is not expected to do anything; it just accepts this method from us, and we are the ones who put it into practice. Therefore, all work is supposed to be done by us. We start and finish it.

The world will supply you with the desires (Kelim) if you find a way to appeal to and receive them from it. The world itself doesn’t perform any actions. In other words, its actions will derive from nature itself. It is written that “The nations of the world will carry Israel on their shoulders.” They will do it when the correction unfolds.

However, only those possessing free will have two forces: the female and the male (the desire to receive pleasure and the desire to bestow it). They are the ones regarded as “Israel,” which means “straight to the Creator” (Yashar El). In the middle line they can draw the Light that Reforms for the entire world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 24/13/2011, Writings of Rabash

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The “Compact” World After The Correction

Dr. Michael LaitmanThere are four stages by which the direct Light expands to us from Above downward: the “world-year-soul” and the existence of reality. And everything we have artificially built as an addition to it is needed to attain a higher degree.

We are building this addition to the upper one in the still, vegetative, and animate forms. At the still level, we create various objects; at the vegetative and animate ones, we alter nature; and at the speaking degree, we perform corrections in ourselves. It is all done so that later on, we will connect all this with the correct intention and reach a higher degree.

At that degree, we will feel less numerous than we do at present, meaning more unified and bonded. Today, we experience the world filled with infinite details, the enormous universe, billions of people, and countless products and trash. But when we ascend to the next degree, we will begin to see how the world is contracting, decreasing in the number of details since we are all linking into one man with one heart.

At each degree, we need to add our effort at the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels. Look how much we have already done, even in our world: How many plants we had to grow to survive, how much we had to alter in the animate world, and how many cities and what surroundings we built for ourselves at the speaking level.

All of these are corrections, regardless of how these alterations look to us: bad or good. We add them at our degree below. We need all this metal and trash because we lack internal correction. As long as we are internally unreformed, we have to perform external corrections until we reach the state when they will no longer be necessary.

Starting with our generation and forward, we will see that as we evolve, we will be contracting. All our immense activities and enormous enterprises will start to decrease, acquire a more “subtle” forms, and disappear. It’s getting simpler, more compact, yet more powerful, meaning more “spiritual” and less based on matter and more on energy.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/7/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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A Joke Or A Strict Law?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If the Creator’s plan is to bring man to the purpose of creation, what did He gain from the events that took place in Israel at the beginning of the month? What is their outcome?

Answer: I am not going to check how the people changed. We act along the axis of time: There was a state before the fire, then there was a fire that took people’s lives and destroyed vegetation, and when it was over, the rain fell.

What changed in this period of time? You started asking questions: “Why did the rain start the day after the fire had been put out? Was it some kind of joke? During the fire we needed rain so much and begged for it so passionately, but there was no response. And when we didn’t need it any longer, it started raining cats and dogs bringing so much damage. We were struck twice.”

Indeed, it is exactly as the Torah describes: If Israel is unworthy, the rain falls at the wrong time in the wrong place. It is the law of nature. Above there is the Light, and below there is the will to receive (desire) that must reach equivalence with the Creator. The Light constantly works on desire, and the latter keeps changing.

A Joke Or A Strict Law
The Creator does only this calculation: two states, the initial and the final one, must be the same. Based on this, He acts. Just as the Light created four phases of expansion of the Direct Light, it continues to develop everything within them.

The Creator doesn’t react; it is the law or Nature. What do you want from Him? Would you be willing to approach an erupting volcano and beg: “Do me a favor, stop erupting for a few minutes, I need to pass through?”

Why then do you think the Creator will respond to your prayers? In this case, you are worshiping an idol. You view Him as wishing stars that bring luck, as if with their help you may change your fate. It’s true that you can learn something about the future, but changing it is beyond your power.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/12/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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Why Fight A Kind Embrace?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why did the Creator set up such a cruel joke: There wasn’t a drop of rain for a very long time, which resulted in a horrible fire, but as soon as people put it out by making unfathomable efforts, the very next day a heavy rain came down that only interfered with agricultural work? If the Creator controls everything, why didn’t He send the rain sooner?

Answer: Along the same lines, you could ask: Why did He cause the fire to happen to us? After all, what would be the point of igniting a fire and then sending rain in order to put it out immediately? If I love someone, I won’t beat him up in order to then be nice to him.

Clearly, everything comes from the Creator. As soon as the airplanes put out the fire, the rain immediately began, and this happened on purpose in order to teach us something.

The Creator ignites the fire and He also puts it out, while we have to learn from this and draw conclusions. We are inside a system that is entirely governed by the Upper Light and nothing can come out from its power, as it is written, “The hearts of the ministers and kings are completely in the hands of the Creator.”

All of nature is the Creator, and there is no freedom of will there. Our freedom lies only in our attitude to what it happening.

If I adopt a different attitude, then will the fire happen or not? Your attitude will change your reality or the way you perceive it.

Instead of perceiving Upper Light that comes in the form of harshness (Gvurot), as a consuming fire, you will feel it as the warmth of love. This depends only on your attitude: Do you love it or hate it?

Imagine that the person you hate most in the world is now hugging you. You will turn to ice, horrified by this embrace. And now think of how different it would be if you were hugging a person you loved.

The only thing that comes to us from the Creator is love and Light, but we do not feel it and cannot accept it. From Above there is always Light coming to us, wishing to fill the common desire of the whole world and the entire universe overall. This Light methodically advances this desire to the goal, to equivalence of form with itself.

If the creation below organizes itself in the appropriate manner, then it will feel a good attitude from Above. And if it doesn’t, then it will feel the reverse.

Everything depends only on you! Nothing changes from Above. Even when we say that we can change something with our prayer, that we can raise MAN and receive a response from Above, MAD, which brings us Light and returns us to the Source and changes us, none of this affects the influence of the Upper Light in the slightest. The Light constantly comes to creation, leading it to the final goal.

All the changes take place only relative to our sensation. No matter what, the train is moving forward and nothing can stop it or slow it down.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/7/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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Let’s Hope For The Best

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe only thing that can help the world against all disasters and problems is a stronger connection, cooperation, participation, and attention to each other. This is the part that the world can fulfill. And the people around the world who relate to “Isra-El” (“straight to the Creator”) have to add their intention to this. Our work is on the intention.

By connecting our intention, we will raise all these actions, all the common desires to the level of bestowal, back to the Creator. And then we’ll balance all these forces of nature that are falling upon us nowadays.

In reality, these forces are good: All disasters, fires, and hurricanes are nothing but a stronger Light coming to us. But we can’t receive it properly, and that’s why it leads to disaster. If the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) is not received inside the Light of Hassadim (Mercy), it turns into four plagues. The Light of Hochma without the Light of Hassadim is called a sword (knife).

The Creator always reveals a greater Light. He reveals Himself according to a special formula: He cannot and does not want to stop. He will not “wear our shoes” as He already has a complete program from the beginning to end of creation.

The first (initial) and third (end) states are already joined together and that’s why the program is working: The Light releases itself stronger and stronger with every moment. And according to this, if we don’t start working on greater similarity to Him all the time, disasters will continue.

They will be happening on all levels. First, they started on the still level; these are the blows that we see now. It’s like the first Egyptian plague, “blood.” And then just wait, all the other plagues will come: “frogs,” “lice,” and so on. Let’s hope that we won’t have to get to the last, the worst plague, “death of the first-born.”

The whole world has to connect and help each other, putting aside all the hostility and childish bickering. And those who have a “point in the heart” and are called “Israel” have to add to this their screen and Reflected Light, meaning the intention of bestowal.

And then everyone will unite together and achieve equivalence to nature, revealing the Creator for everyone! Each individual, according to his level and degree of participation, will discover the spiritual world.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/10, Special Talk on Tragedy in the North of Israel

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The Correct Formula Of Existence

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Many people see that this world is sliding down into the darkness and they want to save it. However, your words about love for the neighbor and unity seem unrealistic to them. Moreover, when you mention the Creator, they attribute it to religion and don’t want to hear anything more. So how can you explain anything to them?

Answer: Kabbalah is a natural science, not a religion. And it can be explained on a level that’s clear to any person.

Do you accept the fact that our world has become integral and global? Do you see that there is a general force in the world that controls it? We are revealing how everything is inseparably interconnected and develops along specific phases.

We don’t know what will happen at the next moment, but everything in nature is absolutely thought and planned out. And we can use the forces that are inherent in nature.

All of nature is connected in a single system, so let’s also come together and become one system! That way we will attract a positive influence from nature. I am not talking about something artificial, but on the contrary, if we want to use any forces of nature, we have to come closer to the same phenomena, become similar to them and establish a connection with them. This rule applies to everything and to any forces of nature, including electrostatic and magnetic forces we can feel as well as forces that are concealed.

The more similar we are to these forces, the more we can use them and feel their influence. The closer my thoughts are to yours, the more I feel you and the more connected I am to you. Then we can become close, understand one another, and help each other.

In other words, we have to understand the following:

  1. We are inside of Nature and are an integral part of it, but we are not its masters; we are not above it.
  2. We have to admit that we are connected together, and all of modern science shows this fact.
  3. We are the most flawed part of nature, leading it to a catastrophe, while all the rest of nature besides us is in harmony. If there are any problems in it, they’re all because of us.

Therefore, we have to find the right formula of existence! Everyone can agree that it is the formula of mutual participation and interconnection, as the general, integral system obligates us.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/10, “Matan Torah”

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